


The Forgotten

by Magicphobic



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 11:46:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8400478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magicphobic/pseuds/Magicphobic
Summary: This story is an AU that takes place outside the events of the game. Shortly after Rhys gets mixed up with the fake vault key, he gets separated from his friends and lost in the harsh desert of Pandora. Rhys had almost not chance of surviving before a mysterious stranger passing by found him and saved him, and took him back to the nearby town. Rhys is grateful and surprised that he didn't kill Rhys on the spot  for being a part of Hyperion. The man ended up asking a lot of questions about Hyperion, seeming almost interested, as if he was once there. Rhys notes how things have been since Handsome Jack died, and oddly, this stranger sounds almost exactly like him....
The stranger however insists that he be forgotten.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a side story based on a RP I had with a Rhys on Shamchat (which by the was a rare sight, you were the only BL person I ran into so if you stumble upon this, shout out to you!) It is an AU in which Jack at the end of Borderlands 2 does not actually die and instead faked his death with a New-U Machine. (These machines are non-canon by the way, and only exist cause the game needs some sort of checkpoint system when you die.) He has to accept his defeat however and remained dead by hiding out in a town almost no one knows about, a place literally called "Nowhere." People come here to disappear, and Jack is now one of those people, or at least he was until Rhys was able to stumble upon him. It should be noted that this will possibly be a shorter story, and will mainly involve Jack and Rhys and the intent is to hopefully pull together a good enough story to ship them in. My main story for borderlands which will involve all characters is "Building It Back Up." which is due for an update very soon.
> 
> And as always I copy paste the text from other mediums I've posted it on (Wattpad in this case), so the format and spacing of lines might be a bit weird. Sorry. :/
> 
> ***Also sorry for typos, I pump chapters out within about an hour to two hours for most, rarely does it take me longer then that and it's usually done in one sitting. I do have spellchecker but as we all know sometimes it doesn't always pick up on stuff.***

Dead. He was so going to die. Right here. Right now. Rhys pushed himself to keep moving through the harsh desert. His feet plowing through the sand as he sprinted for as long as he could but now his lungs were starting to give out on him and he was going to slow down and die any second. He was being chased. A hungry pack of Skags that wanted to make him his dinner.  
Run, keep running. Don't slow down. One false movement and it would be game over. He couldn't die like this, at least not now. He had just tried to pull off the biggest plan in his lifetime and it failed horrible... maybe this was punishment for that. Maybe he deserved this.  
Rhys shook his head, the sound of the Skags hot on his heels. Now was not the time to take self pity. He would get out of this, he could hide somewhere. Maybe pick up a big rock and throw it at them. Stand his ground, scare them away! There was not way he was going to-  
A small rock stuck out of the ground, you couldn't see it unless you were right on top of it. Rhys didn't see it until it was too late. He let out a small yelp as he tripped on it and face planted into the dirt. He coughed in the dust of the sand as the Skags surrounded him now, growling. They were hungry.  
This is it, this is how he died. This was indeed the end for him. Rhys watched as the leader of the pack stepped up and snarled at him. It suddenly opened it horrifying mouth and screeched at Rhys. Rhys quickly put his hands up to cover his face as he braced for the Skag to Run and jump at him.  
A sudden gunshot. The sound of the group of Skags screeching in unison as the leader hit the ground with a loud thud. Another few gunshots are heard as the rest of the Skags quickly scampered away from the area. It went silent.

Rhys noticed the fact he wasn't in pain and he wasn't dead yet. "I.... I'm alive?" He lowered he hands and looked around to see that the Skags were gone. "I'm alive."  
"Hey! Dumbass!" A person called out to Rhys.  
Rhys quickly scrambled to his feet, turning to face the man that walked up to him. "I am not a dumbass!" Rhys scowled.  
"Yeah, says the kid who almost got killed by a wild pack of Skgas." The man scoffed. "You're welcome by the way."  
Rhys frowned and looked at the man. He was wearing a sort of vested shirt, with jeans and a old worn pair of shoes. He also wore a long cloak, one with a hood. Said hood covered the man's face so Rhys couldn't see it. It was shrouded in shadows.  
"...Thanks." Rhys mumbled, casting his gaze to the ground.  
"What the hell is a well dressed person like you doing out in the middle of the desert unarmed?" The man asked, looking Rhys over.  
"I uh... I..." Rhys panicked and didn't want to admit he was working for Hyperion, he knew how much Pandora didn't like his kind. "I was just... passing by."  
"Oh, so you're a liar?" The man chuckled and stepped close to Rhys, reading the branding on his vest. "Hyp-" The man froze, and then casted his gaze to Rhys, of which Rhys could barely see with the eerie hood. "...You work for Hyperion?"  
Rhys stiffened and took a few steps back, playing cautiously around this man now. "I... Yeah... I... not anymore." Rhys replied, running a finger thought his hair sheepishly. "I may or may not be fired at this point."  
"...But you did work there?" The man continued to question.  
"...Please don't kill me!" Rhys caved in.  
"Kill you... why would I-." The man caught himself. "I mean.... I'm not like the rest of the scum on this planet, I don't exactly mind your kind, but yeah, you're certainly not welcome here."  
"Can you... point me in the direction of a town, maybe?" Rhys asked, looking the man over.  
"I'm not a charity kid." The man started to walk away. "I saved your ass once, you're just lucky I was here to do that."  
"Please!" Rhys ran after the man and stood in front of him, blocking his way. "Please! I can't survive here without help. I got separated from my friends and I don't even know where to start looking for them, and I can't go back to Hyperion after what I've done!"   
The man scowled at Rhys and looked him over again. "Hyperion is still running, right?"  
"...Yes?" Rhys replied confused.

The man sighed, then looked out over the horizon, and then back to Rhys. He changed his pace and started to walk a different direction.  
Rhys let out a small wine and called out at him. "Hey! I said I needed-"  
"Yeah, you want my help." The man looked at Rhys over his shoulder. "The town's over this way, are you coming or not?" He started to walk again.  
Rhys blinked. The man was actually offering to help him, that or lead him somewhere to kill him and loot him, though he really didn't have anything of value aside from organs and cybernetics to sell on a black market. Rhys thought for another moment, he watched a Skag walk out from a cave, look at him, and growl.   
"W-wait up!" Rhys called after the man, and ran towards him to catch up with him.   
The man chuckled, side eyeing Rhys. "So, you can't go back to Hyperion?" He questioned.  
"No... I can't." Rhys replied looking down at the ground. "They'd probably kill me, my only option now is to stay down here."  
"Really? That's a first to hear someone like you wanting to stay on this dumb rock." The man replied. "Well then, in that case... you're going to need a gun."  
Rhys looked at the man a bit worried. He'd never used a gun before, only helped to make them. He hoped things wouldn't get worse to the point he'd ever need to use the gun.


	2. Chapter 2

The pair have been walking for quite some time now. The questions and conversation had died down considerably. Rhys was just quietly following along behind the man, starting to question if the man really was going to help him and not in fact lead him astray and kill him.   
"...So um, how far ahead is this town?" Rhys questioned, looking at the man and breaking the silence.  
"Why so sheepish?" The man asked noting Rhys's behaviour and tone. "Afraid I'm going to kill you or something?"  
"Well..." Rhys said. "You're a stranger. I haven't met you before, I don't know you, and with this planets history... You never know. I mean I already ran into a pair of con artists."  
"Did you?" The man questioned. "Well, let me tell you something kiddo, I'm not going to kill you. Not unless you piss me off or something." The man chuckled at the thought, probably thinking about what he could do to Rhys if he stepped out of line. "I'm not some bandit."  
"You're not?" Rhys questioned. "What do you do then?"  
"Survive, mostly." The man replied. "You now how harsh this planet is. I'm just a roamer, I guess."  
"I see..." Rhys looked up ahead now and saw a town appear over the horizon of a large hill.   
"Look, we're here!" The man pointed ahead. "See, I told you I'm not some bandit, I wasn't leading you astray, kiddo."  
Rhys smiled. "Yeah, you weren't." He started to walk ahead. "Sorry I questioned you."

The man grabbed Rhys by the arm and pulled him back. "Whoa, slow down cupcake, you can't just waltz in there." The man informed him. "You're Hyperion, remember?"  
"Oh... right." Rhys shifted. "What do I do then? Wait for you to go in?"  
"No, you gotta change your look." The man replied, stepping back and looking Rhys over. "Well the dirt and dusts already did a number on you, man watching you face plant like that was hilarious."  
"Hey!" Rhys scowled. "You could of told me that I was about to-" The man ignored Rhys and walked around him. "Hmmm... loose your vest at least." He pointed to the Hyperion symbol on it.   
Rhys, still annoyed about the fact the man allowed him to face plant, reluctantly did so, folding it over on his arm and looking back at the man for further assistance.   
"Better, now they won't know instantly that you're Hyperion...." The man suddenly reached up and messed with Rhy's hair.  
"Hey!" Rhys pulled back.   
"Hey." The man replied. "Your hair looks too clean, too... professional." The man explained himself. "C'mere."  
Rhys frowned and looked away as he walked up to the man. The man now picked at his tie and shirt collar, loosening the both of them. He stepped back to admire his work. "Alright, you'd pass for now."  
The man started to walk on ahead towards the town and encouraged Rhys to follow him. "Now, unless you want to be gutted, keep your head down, don't make eye contract and if someone talks to you, try not to piss them off."  
Rhys swallowed hard and nodded, following the man into the town.

They walked up to the main entrance of the town. Rhys looked up at it's sign. "Welcome to Nowhere?" He questioned looking at the man.  
"Yep, that's the name of the place..." The man replied. "As you can see, it's in the middle of no where, and not very many people know it exists, its not on any maps and there's no waypoints..." He looked at Rhys. "Only lost people or people that want to disappear know where this town is. Chances are once you leave here, you'll never be able to find it again... a lot of people never come back for a second visit."  
"Isn't that... kinda spooky?" Rhys asked.  
"I guess, kinda." The man shrugged. "But usually it's just that no one gives a shit about us here in Nowhere."  
Rhys watched as he walked down a small narrow road with the man, and the people around him started to stare. The stopped whatever they were doing to watch the pair walk past. Some people were eying Rhys, and whispering to each other about him. He was a stranger, an outsider, and he was drawing a lot of attention.   
"Don't make eye contact, remember?" The man snapped at Rhys, walking forward still. "C'mon, I know a place we can sit and chat without being interrupted."   
"S-sure." Rhys replied, getting nervous now as some of the more unruly type started to pull out weapons and keep them at their side, showing them off just enough for Rhys to see.

The man lead Rhys down the end of a main street and of a small path, of which at the end of that was a small bar like building. Rhys frowned at the drunks that sat outside the building wasted, barely able to stand up or talk. Some of them made comments about Rhys that he'd rather not think about. The man went on ahead of Rhys, kicking the door open and nodding to the bar tender, heading over to a small table under a staircase, where the light of the already dim bar didn't reach him.  
Rhys watched the man walk over, casting his eyes around the bar that was noisy from the outside, and seemed to almost stop and get really awkward when he walked in. Everyone looked up and watched him standing there. Whispers started again.   
Rhys saw the man pull out a chair from the table and pat it, looking at Rhys. He was inviting him to come sit down, motioning for Rhys to do it quick and fast and to keep in mind not to make contact with anyone in the area. Rhys took a deep breath and walked through the bar past everyone, making sure not to communicate with them. He stared straight ahead, focusing on the man, and the minute he sat down and was out of most people's sight, the sound in the bar returned to normal. No one cared anymore.

"Why is... everyone like this?" Rhys questioned looking at the man.  
"You're a stranger." The man replied. "Pandora doesn't take too kindly to strangers." The man leaned back in the chair putting his feet up on the table. "You're lucky I changed your outfit up, otherwise the minute someone realizes where you're from, you'd be dead before you stepped foot in the town."  
Rhys swallowed hard again, leaning more into the table to hide some more. "S-so... What did you want to talk about?" Rhys asked.  
"How's Hyperion doing?" The man replied casually.  
"What do you mean by that?" Rhys questioned.  
"Y'know... what plans are they doing now? What operations... still making weapons and what not or working on something else?"  
"Well... Yeah we're still making weapons and developing new technology, but that's about all we're doing now." Rhys started to relax a bit. "Y'know honestly, Hyperion has gone down hill a lot ever since... Y'know... Handsome Jack died."  
"Yeah, no shit." The man replied very cockily. "That man worked wonders for the company. Got a lot of progress done. Very innovative."   
Rhys looked at the man a little confused and taken back. "That's a first...." He said. "Never heard someone from Pandora praise Jack..."  
"Yeah well everyone here is scum that hates great people." The man scoffed. "I'm not like most people."  
"Clearly." Rhys replied.  
"So, why did you get fired?" The man asked Rhys, curious now.  
"Well... You see I tried to... steal a deal from my higher up." Rhys replied. "Someone killed our current president and that said person happens to be my worst enemy, so instead of giving me my promotion I've worked so hard for, he just... demoted me to a janitor."   
"Hah, stealing a deal to get revenge? Man I wouldn't do that." The man chuckled. "I'd just throw that dude out an airlock and claim my new promotion as president." He paused. "Who's the CEO?"  
"...Jack still." Rhys replied. "We haven't really... assigned it to anyone else. I know he's dead and all but, everyone just felt it would be something nice to do out of respect for someone so great..."  
"...wow..." The man replied. "This really is interesting."  
"Speaking of Jack... not to be insulting or anything, but you kinda sound like him." Rhys said looking at the man, trying to squint to make something out of the shadows that shrouded his face.   
"R-really?" The man coughed, changing his tone suddenly and obviously putting on a fake voice. "I've uh... I've got that a lot... must be my curse." He let out a nervous laugh.   
"Yeah, really coincidental I guess." Rhys shrugged.

The man took his feet down and sat up now. "Did you... know Jack?"  
"No." Rhys replied. "Not personally, at least."  
"Ah, okay." The man let out a sigh of relief.  
"Actually... if I'm honest... Jack's sort of like... my hero." Rhys went on with the conversation. "I know he's... done some questionable things but he's had good intentions and he was such a badass."  
"Yeah he was..." The man smiled now.  
"Y'know... since you asked me, I kinda got to ask..." Rhys stiffened up. "Did... you know Jack?"  
The man froze, thinking for a minute. "Why do you ask?"  
"Because.... It's very odd for you to not be so... against him and Hyperion like everyone else is... and to be asking so many questions as if you... used to work there." Rhys looked at the man with a suspicious look now.  
The man sighed, and then leaned in, keeping his voice low. "Would you be surprised if I said I did?"  
Rhys looked taken back, eyes wide now and looking at the man. "You did? What... what happened? Why did you leave."   
"I... had my reasons." The man replied.  
"Did you get fired like me?" Rhys wondered.  
"...sure, you could say that." The man went with that idea.

"Wow.... What did you do?" Rhys wanted to know now. "Were you around during Jack's time? What was he like? How high up were you?"  
"One question at a time kiddo." The man replied. "Some things I just can't tell you, as I said, this town is for people who... need to disappear."  
"Right... Right sorry." Rhys frowned. "It's none of my business, I'm sorry."   
"It's fine." The man assured Rhys. "Out of curiosity, what was the deal you mentioned you tried to steal?"  
"Oh, that..." Rhys started. "Well you see he had acquired a deal to get his hands on a Vault Key."  
"WHAT!?" The man stood up suddenly, slamming has hands on the table.  
The whole bar went silent again and looked over to their little corner, curious what the man was yelling about. Rhys tugged at the collar of his shirt, trying to ignore the sudden stares. "What happened to laying low and being quiet?" He quietly asked the man.  
The man looked around the bar at all the people staring at them and he slowly sat back down, focusing back on Rhys.   
"Right... sorry..."  
"Why are you so interested in the Vault Key?" Rhys asked once the bar started to kick back up again. "Are you some kind of Vault Hunter? Oh my god you quit Hyperion to go Vault Hunting, didn't you?"  
"Am I some kind of.... Am I some k-kind of v-Vault Hunter...???" The man broke out laughing. "Ahaha, funny! You're funny kiddo." He quickly went back to a darker tone of voice. "Like hell I'd associate myself with those goddamn bandits!"  
"Well then why are you so excited to hear about a Vault Key?" Rhys questioned, put off by the man's mocking of Vault Hunters.  
"Who wouldn't? Vault Hunter or not, those things mean something." The man replied. "Who wouldn't want to get their hands on one?"  
"You have a point I guess." Rhys shrugged.   
"So... why did this higher up of yours want this Vault Key? Personal reasons?" The man titled his head to the side in curiosity.   
"No actually, I think he wanted it to present to the company to use it to make Hyperion a name for itself again." Rhys explained.  
"Huh, sounds like something someone else tried to do once." The man smirked.  
"I don't think Vasquez was planning on wiping Pandora clean with a Vault Monster." Rhys picked up on what the man was talking about.   
"So that's his name..." The man noticed that Rhys had dropped it. "Why does that sound... familiar...."   
"You probably ran into him once or twice, He's known for doing... a lot of shady business with people." Rhys leaned back in his chair. "like throwing the former president of Hyperion out an airlock."   
"Why didn't you just throw him out an air lock instead?" The man questioned. "Isn't that how you get to where you need to be on Helios, by killing people?"  
"I mean... I would of but uh... I couldn't" Rhys casted his gaze away. "I told him to watch his back and.... He punched me in the face."  
The man snickered and laughed again. "Wow you're so lame!" He stated.  
Rhys frowned. "Yeah well, the plan I had seemed like a good idea, something I could work with better but... that back fired too.."  
"How so?"  
"...The key was a fake."

There was a fit of more laughter, followed by a few insults on Rhys's mental capacity. "Wow you really fucked up, didn't you?"  
"You could say that, yes." Rhys frowned, annoyed by the constant ridicule.  
"And now because of your own stupidity, you're stranded here." The man noted. "Real smooth, kiddo."  
"Stop calling me kiddo!" Rhys scolded the man and folded his arms.  
"Well what else am I to call you?" The man asked. "You didn't exactly give me a name."  
"It's Rhys." Rhys replied.  
"Huh... Rhys..." The man let the name sink in. "Yeah, that sounds like the name a guy like you would have. Rhys the Company Man or something."   
"I don't know to take that as a compliment or an insult." Rhys stated.  
"Probably an insult." The man said standing up. "Well, c'mon Rhysie, I promised you a gun, didn't I?"  
"Hey, wait a minute!" Rhys said, standing up now too. "You didn't give me a name."  
The man smirked. "You don't need one." He started to walk out. "I'm Nobody."  
Rhys took a moment to process that. He was seriously getting so many mixed feelings from this stranger he met. He just told him a lot of things about himself and what happened in detail, and all he knew was that this man was an ex Hyperion worker. He wouldn't even give Rhys his name. Rhys scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets and headed out of the bar. He wanted answers.


	3. Chapter 3

"So like, you said you worked for Hyperion right?" Rhys caught up to the man and walked with him.  
"Not something I want to talk about out in the open like this." The man replied, walking a bit faster now.  
"Well then let's head somewhere else we can talk." Rhys demanded. "How do I know you're not still working for them and were sent to find me so you can gain my trust then kill me in a slow, painful death."  
"Well now if you're going to go around concocting bullshit like that then I just might have to kill you." The man casually threatened. "I'm not a hired spy to track you down. I had no idea you existed until I saved your sorry ass today."  
"How do I know that's the truth!" Rhys protested. "What if you're lying to me!?"  
The man suddenly pulled Rhys aside and pushed him against the wall of a building off to the side of the road. He got right in Rhys's face. "Listen, I will not stand for false accusations, so either you believe me and trust me or you just get the fuck out of here right now and fend for yourself." The man warned him in a stern tone. "Now do you want a gun to defend yourself or do you not?"  
Rhys realized he had crossed the line a bit and started to reel himself in. "Y-yes. Sorry I just thought..."   
"See, that's your problem. You think too much!" The man smiled and gained a friendly tone again, casually patting Rhys on the cheek and started to walk again.  
Rhys scowled again, he still didn't know what to make of this guy... But at least now he knew not to get on his bad side.

The pair headed down a narrow pathway, an area that was a lot more shifty looking then the rest of the town, which was shifty looking to begin with, so that only made this part of it extra shifty. The man seemed to know where he was going and acted as if he's been this way a hundred times. He probably had been.   
Rhys had a hard time keeping himself tame. There were a lot more unruly looking people in this area of town. Most of the path was covered in shade from the fact the buildings were too high to let the sunlight in. Perfect for people to stand in the shadows waiting to jump out and mug a person like him. He wondered if they would just kill him for fun once they found out he had nothing of value on him. He shivered at the thought of them possible ripping his arm from it's socket to sell it for scrap metal maybe.

"You doin' okay, Rhyise?" The man spoke to Rhys from over his shoulder. "You look a little pale."  
"I'm fine... I'm fine." Rhys mumbled. "I just... what are the chances of someone jumping me here?"  
"Pretty damn high." The man replied so easily. "The only reason why you haven't been jumped is because people are afraid of me."   
"Afraid of you?" Rhys questioned. "Are you well known?"  
"Oh yeah. They all know who I am." The man confirmed. "Stick close to me and no one will touch you... maybe."  
That last comment didn't really make Rhys feel confident in himself. "You're pretty popular then for someone who's 'Nobody'."  
"I guess you could say I am." The man said. "I just know how to leave an impression on people, and in a small town like this, news spreads fast."  
"I can only imagine." Rhys sighed. "So like, where am I getting a gun exactly? I uh.... don't have any cash on me."  
"That doesn't matter." The man told him. "I know the prefect place to get a gun for you for free."  
"That's awfully generous of you." Rhys took note.  
"Yeah, what can I say?" The man shrugged. "I'm a nice guy."  
Based on the interaction the two just had before when Rhys was questioning him, he had to wonder how much truth was to that statement. Was he really a nice guy or just playing nice to get what he wanted? Rhys couldn't tell at this point.

It went silent again as the man ducked down another alleyway, and headed to a door on the back of a building ahead. Rhys got a bad feeling about the place as they approached it.   
"Well, here we are." The man said, stepping aside to let Rhys look the doorway up. It was a steel door, reenforced, as if it was holding valuables. "You're probably wondering what's in there huh?"  
"Well, lets see... large door that looks like it's meant to keep things in and people out... can't help but get slightly curious." Rhys said sarcastically.   
The man laughed. "You got a good sense of humour, y'know that? I like that." He smiled and knocked on the door.  
A metal flap on the door slid open and a pair of eyes looked out. "What's the password?" The person behind the door asked, looking past the man and glaring at Rhys.  
Rhys looked at the man and watched him lean in towards the door. He whispered something that Rhys couldn't hear. He watched as the slit slammed closed again and a series of locks was heard, and suddenly the door swung open.   
The man smiled at Rhys. "After you." He stepped aside and held his hand out, gesturing to the blackness of the doorframe.

Rhys stepped up and peered into the door. It was dark, and the only light was that at the end of it, which was down a flight of stairs. A open sign that flickered in the blackness above a regular door. What bugged Rhys the most though was that he couldn't find the person... or thing... that the pair of eyes and voice that asked for a password belonged too. Behind the door was no one there.  
"Well go on!" The man suddenly walked up and gave Rhys a shove, closing the door behind him.   
Rhys stumbled down the stairs, not expecting to be shoved like that. The man just pushed past him as he was going too slow and walked up to the door at the bottom of the stairs, opening it and causing more light to flood the stairwell. "C'mon, hurry up!" He demanded looking back at Rhys who was trying not to loose his footing on the slim staircase. "I don't have all day!"  
"I'm coming!" Rhys whined looking back at the man and then down at the stairs trying to speed himself up. "I can only go so fast when I can't see where I'm going."  
The man ignored his complaints again and headed into the room, Rhys eventually made it himself and looked around the area. "Where are we?" Rhys asked.  
"This..." The man started and gestured to the wide selection of items that were in the room and lined on the shelves and walls. "...Is the local Black Market."  
Rhys stopped at that term and looked at the man. "Black Market?" He questioned in a worried tone. "Like where you buy body parts illegally and all that."  
"I mean if you're looking for them sure." The man pointed to a shelf with a few jars. "I think a see some eyeballs and a brain over there."   
Rhys didn't bother to look where the man was pointing to. He really didn't want to see that. "Why are we here?"  
"I already told you why, to get you a gun." The man replied and walked over to the small and cluttered counter, slapping his hand on the bell that was labeled to ring for service.  
"So you're getting me an illegal gun?" Rhys questioned, not too found of that idea.  
"Don't think on it too much." The man smirked under his hood and leaned back against the counter to face Rhys, folding his arms. "I mean it's not like Pandora has a police force anyway."

Suddenly a man walked out from another room that was behind the counter. He was large and of a strong build. He wore all black and had a gang-like bandana around his face, covering his mouth. He walked up behind the man, standing there. He stared at Rhys, causing Rhys have a shiver run down his back, as he casted his gaze away. "Someone's there." He mumbled to the man.  
The man turned around to look up at the third person who had joined him. It was the owner of the shop. "Ah, there you are. My buddy here wou-"  
The owner slammed his fist on the counter to shut the man up. "Why the fuck are you here?" He questioned the man. "Empty handed and bringing around unruly strangers."  
Rhys had to laugh to himself. He was the unruly one? No, he couldn't take that seriously. A town full of murders and the company man from Hyperion was the unruly one. Funny.  
"We had a deal, John." The owner addressed the man. "Where's the good at eh?"  
"John?" Rhys looked at the man. "I thought your name was Noone?"  
The man, now known as John, glared at Rhys with a threatening look, as if to tell him to keep his mouth shut. Rhys knew he wasn't suppose to find out the man's name. He ignored Rhys and looked at the owner. "Let's take this out back, shall we?" He motioned to the door behind the counter where the owner emerged from originally. "I'm sure you don't want strangers listening in on your business affairs."  
The owner looked at Rhys and then back at John. "Fine." He scowled and headed out back.   
John hopped the counter and was about to follow him but turned to Rhys first. "This will only take a few minutes, pumpkin, why don't you have a browse around? Anything you see that you like just leave it on the counter, 'kay?"  
Rhys looked around the area and shrugged. "Okay... I guess."  
John smirked and gave Rhys a thumbs up before heading into the back room.

Rhys was left alone now in the shop, and he didn't like it. It was dim in the Black Market, and there was an assortment of strange and odd things, dangerous or just plain gross things. He wandered away from the counter and tried to find the weapons section of the shop. To the right of the counter was the section of an assortment or weapons. Rhys honestly couldn't picture himself using anything there.  
A rocket launcher that was twice his size he couldn't lift. Guns that were too heavy to even pick up and inspect. Lazer guns seemed too tacky and complexed to work anyway. The only guns that he was familiar with was any of the Hyperion brand guns the shop carried, which was little to none. They were older models and-  
"Hey!" Rhys scowled picking up a pistol. "This gun was canceled as a prototype stage! It's illegal for them to have this!" He looked it over, aiming at some objects in the room. "It.... looks like it's been modified... they used to explode when reloading... I should report this..."

There was a sudden bang from the back room and some shouting kicked up. Rhys was started and almost ended up dropping the pistol. He looked towards the door and heard as more shuffling and shouting was heard, as if a fight broke out.  
"H-hey!" Rhys called out going over to the counter. "Is everything okay back th-"   
Rhys jumped as he heard the sudden sound of gunfire and loud cussing. He looked around for any cameras before he hopped the counter himself, and reached for the door.  
There was a large bang against the door that caused Rhys to pull back. Someone had been tossed against it. From here though Rhys could hear what was being said, so he put his ear to the door now instead.  
"Goddamit! I told you not to try anything!" The owner exclaimed. "Now you're really going to get it!"  
"Why don't you just calm your man tits for a minute!" John exclaimed back, followed by a loud thud. "I told you it wasn't there! I'll bring it when I find it but I didn't find it!"   
The fighting stopped for a second. "I've given you too many chances, John! I want my damn money, and I want you and that Hyperion Scum out of my shop or I'll personally-"  
"AAAAAAAGH!"  
Rhys had to cover his mouth as he heard the blood curdling scream. There was the sound of bones being broken, he could only assume blood had been shed.  
"Listen..." John spoke now, the owner was silent. "How about you back the fuck off, let my friend out there take whatever he needs, and we'll both be out of your hair, and if you're patient enough, maybe I'll let you keep your other four fingers while I'm working on getting your money back."  
Silence again.  
"I'll take that as a yes." There was footsteps approaching the door now and it opened suddenly. Rhys panicked and knew he shouldn't be listening and made a sprint over the counter, ducking behind a stack of ammunition. "I'd say we made a lot of progress today." John walked out the door, slamming it behind himself. He hopped the counter and then looked around for Rhys.

"Hey, Rhys!" He called out. "Where are you?"  
"O-over here!" Rhys called out from the area he was hiding in.  
John walked over to the source of Rhys voice and found him. "Did you find anything you liked?"  
"I...uh yeah... I...did...?" Rhys was about to show the prototype pistol he picked up, but now froze as he watched John wipe some blood off a knife he was holding and then casually slide it back into it's holster. "...what happened?"  
"hm?" John looked up at Rhys. "Oh nothing, we just had a small chat about business deals..." He looked at the pistol in Rhys's hand. "What... is that?" He asked pointed to the gun.  
Rhys held it up. "The gun I found..." he admitted, suspicious now of what happened behind that door.   
John busted out laughing. "Ahahaha! Again with the jokes!" He took the gun forcefully from Rhys and looked it over. "This thing was a defect, it's just a collector's item if anything. it's useless!" He tossed the gun aside. "I thought you said you worked for Hyperion? You should know that gun was shit. Explodes on the reload instead of exploding once it's thrown."  
"I...I knew that." Rhys mumbled looking down, he felt like he was being belittled by someone who didn't even know what jobs on Hyperion were like now adays. Just because he worked there once upon a time doesn't mean he was all that important, who was he to make Rhys feel like such an idiot like that?  
"Here." John said walking over to the weapon's section again and picking out a gun. "If you wanna use a pistol, this is what you need. It's a Jackobs." He handed Rhys a small golden pistol.  
Rhys looked the gun over, it wasn't too heavy or too big, and it looked like it did pack a punch. It had a scope on it too so he could snipe with it if he wanted. He had to admit, it was a nice gun.  
"It hold's about 30 rounds but you can upgrade that even more if you want to." John said. "With this gun though, you should be pretty okay on your own." He started to walk towards the door. "Well, I think we're done here."  
"Wait!" Rhys said calling after him. "How much is it? what do I owe?"   
"It's on the house." John replied with a smirk. "That's part of the business deal I just dealt with." He continued walking out.  
"...wow." Rhys shrugged and took the gun, following John out of the building.

The pair walked back through the town once again, ignoring people's stares and whispers as they went. Rhys looked over a John and after that incident, he had more questions then ever now.   
"So, your name is John, huh?" Rhys spoke up with a cough to clear his throat. "That's an interesting name."  
"It's a common name." John replied not bothering to look at Rhys as they talked. "Nothing special about it, and I told you my name doesn't matter."  
"Well I think it suits you better than the name Noone." Rhys tried to make a joke, getting no reaction out of John.  
"Y'know sometimes you try to hard with your jokes, kiddo." John sighed.  
"Tried too hard?" Rhys frowned. "That's the first time I've tried t make a joke. Every other time you laughed at me I was being dead serious."  
"I know that." John said without a second thought.  
Rhys scowled. "Good to know you think I'm funny then."

The pair went through the rest of the town in silence, and then stopped at the entrance gates.   
"Well, here we are." John said, turning to look at Rhys.  
"Where exactly is here?" Rhys said looking around. "This is just the front of town."  
"Yeah, it is." John replied. "This is where you leave."  
"What!?" Rhys looked at John worried now. "No, I can't!"  
"Hey, I told you from the start that I'm not a charity, I'm not going to follow you around forever now that you're stuck here." John gave Rhys a forceful push out the gates. "I got you a gun and now you're on your own."  
"I'm grateful for that, I really am but you don't understand... I'm not used to this!" Rhys begged. "I won't be okay on my own!"   
"Well, sucks to be you, doesn't it?" John shurgged and started to walk away. "Maybe we'll see each other soon."  
"But-" Rhys was about to call out again when suddenly large explosions were heard. Rhys turned to look up in the sky at the large H shaped ship. Helios.   
"is that-" John turned to look now too, watching as a few large fire balls were shot at Pandora.  
"Moonshots." Rhys looked devastated as he watched the shots fall and shake the earth with large rumbles in the distance.

He suddenly got a call on his Echo device. "Oh thank god!" Rhys exclaimed, realizing the signal has been repaired to Helios. "Yvette!?"   
"Hello, Rhys." The voice of a man came through on the line. "So I heard your little backstabbing ended up backfiring."  
Rhys swallowed hard. "...V-Vasquez."   
"That's right Rhys. It's me." Vasquez confirmed and then chuckled slightly. "You've really fucked up big time, y'know that?"  
"Yeah... I do..." Rhys replied hanging his head in shame.  
"Y'see those moonshots? That was just a warning, surrender now and maybe I won't fucking blow you to bits!" Vasquez threatened Rhys.   
"...How would you even aim them at me?" Rhys questioned.  
"Idiot! I'm tracking your location as we speak. You have Hyperion tech in you, remember? As long as you have that we will find you." Vasquez explained. "Now, I'm gonna count to three to let you claim your surrender, and then I'm gonna personally come down there and murder you instead, okay?"   
"What! No, if you're gonna kill me either way I'd rather run!" Rhys scowled. "You can't do this!"  
"I can do whatever I want Rhys!" Vasquez snarled at him. "Talk back to me one more time and I'm jumping straight to three!"  
"I...I!" Rhys didn't know what to do, there was nothing he could do really. He started to panic.  
"One." Vasquez started his counting. "Two."  
"We're sorry. but your call could not be completed at this time!" John suddenly walked up to Rhys and turned off his communication to Vasquez.

Rhys looked at John and freaked out. "What the hell are you doing! are you trying to get me killed!?"  
"I'm try to save your ass!" John excalimed then grabbed Rhys by the hand. "C'mon lets-"  
"And where do you think you're taking him, John?" The owner from the Black Market stood in the entrance of the town with a bunch of bandits and thugs behind him. HIs hand wrapped up now. "WE don't take too kindly to strangers around here, you of all people should know that."   
John sighed and raised his hands as Rhys did when guns were pointed at them. Moonshots were heard going off again in the distance.   
"Well, shit."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween guys! I'm glad you're enjoying this story. Hope you all had lots of treats and spoops. :)

"Where do you think you're going?" The owner asked, a crew of his forming around him as back up, causing John and Rhys to step away. "Surely you didn't think you were taking that Hyperion scum into this town, especially after you took my finger."  
"If you don't let me take him in, I'll take your other fingers off!" John sneered, causing the owner's men to step up and aim their guns at the pair.  
Further moonshots went off in the distance, and the owner stared John down. "Look, we can't have those things hitting our town because that fucker's hiding in it." He shifted. "And quite frankly, we're all sick of you running this town since the day you showed up anyway."  
"Yeah well get used to it, cause none of you have the balls to step up to me anyway!" John shot back. "if a moonshot wipes this town out, it'll be a relief honestly."  
"Says the man who wanted to disappear." The owner chuckled. "Nah, I don't think you're allowed in here."  
John scowled and reached for his gun, only to stop mid motion by the cocking of the firing squad. He glared at them then eyed Rhys at the corner of his eye.

"...I'm sorry." Rhys spoke up. "This is all my fault, not his." He motioned to John.  
"Kid... what are you doing?" John questioned him.  
"Taking responsibility." Rhys replied. "You got in trouble because you decided to help me. Those moonshots are after me, if I go into that town they will just shoot and blow the town up... I'm not worth all this."  
"I mean, no, you're not." John shrugged, then looked back at the owner and his crew.  
"That's not the reason I'm upset." The owner spoke up. "I don't care who takes the blame, problem is we're all sick and tired of a bully like 'im bossing us around!" The crowed agreed in unison as the owner pointed a finger at John. "We've been waiting for a chance to get rid of him..." He looked at Rhys. "And you brought us one."  
John frowned. "You're all a bunch of useless ungrateful bandits! I did wonders for this town!"  
"You ruined us, John!" The owner shouted at him. "You don't respect anyone, you don't even deserve to live after some of the things you've done. I'm giving you one last chance now to get out of here or we'll just burry you six feet under."  
"Like fuck you will!" John laughed. "I mean c'mon what do you honestly think you're doing?"  
"Growing a pair." The owner smirked, noting how John was complaining that no one would stand up to him.

Another moonshot landed dangerously close. John looked at Rhys and then back at the town that wanted him dead. He took a moment to think, glaring at the citizens. They were all ungrateful bandits, he should of known to expect betrayal from their type. Why did this kind of shit always have to happen to him? Another moonshot landed and Rhys looked at John as if asking what he should do.   
"...Goddammit!" John snarled and grabbed Rhys by the arm, pulling him away as another moonshot almost hit him. "You fuckers will regret this!" He called back to the townsfolk as he pulled Rhys along, heading out into the desert. "I'll make you regret this!"  
"Hopefully you two die." The owner left them with grim words. "Good riddance."  
John cussed aloud on the entire lot of them. "Ungrateful, useless, backstabbing, horrible, murderers! Bandits! Thugs! Fuck em!"   
Rhys sighed looking back at the town, and then listening as John continued to ramble and cuss on them. This mess was just getting bigger and worse, he could only imagine what struggles Vaughn was going through, wherever he was. God he hoped Vaughn got as lucky as he did and was able to survive.

Rhys lost his train of thought as he was violently yanked around a corner, pulled into a cave. He yelped as John viciously cleared out whatever animals were in there. Skags mostly, and pulled Rhys through it and further into the depths of it.   
"You're not gonna help me at all with that fucking gun I gave you?" John questioned glaring at Rhys as he shot a Skag. "Shoot some of them or die."  
Rhys stumbled with his gun and tried to steady his aim. It was hard to pick a target with John raging and killing everything in sight. A skag finally targeted him and he readied up to shoot. The Skag jumped at him and he screamed, pulling the trigger and trying to shoot the creature before ti harmed him. He missed every shot and started running away screaming.   
John ended up shotting the skag and sighing hard. He looked at Rhys. "You have no skill at all, do you?"   
Rhys looked at John with a sorry expression, shrugging with embarssiment over missing every one of his shots.   
"God you're pathetic." John snapped and continued looking around the cave, dead skags and blood all around them and the echoes of moonshots from outside ringing through the cave. "They should have a harder time finding you in here, caves block the signal."

Rhys looked around the cave, and watched John pace back and forth, kicking a corpse and complaining more about the betrayal of the people from Nowhere. He felt really guilty that this was all his fault. John may have been a bit hard on the people but at least he would still be safe and okay in that town instead of stuck in a cave now with Rhys because Rhys needed help and someone to save him. This was all Rhys's fault.  
"I'm sorry." Rhys spoke again, watching as John stopped and looked at him. "This is my fault, I'm sorry."  
"Yeah, it is kinda your fault." John agreed, not trying to make Rhys feel better about himself, like a normal person would do. Instead he continued, "But y'know I don't need that town anyway. Full of outlaws and unruly people... Fuck em."  
"Why did you stay there in the first place then?" Rhys questioned.  
"I needed a place to disappear." John explained. "I could of done that anywhere, like this cave. I can live in this cave."  
"...They said you were a bully." Rhys noted. "What did you do to them? I witnessed you take a man's finger for calling you out on something."  
"They're a bunch of bandits!" John complained. "You have to take extreme measures to get power over them, if I didn't show my dominance they would kill me."  
"Is Pandora really that bad?" Rhys asked.  
"Yes, it is." John frowned. "Pandora is a horrible fucking planet, it should have been wiped out when the chance was there."  
"You mean when Jack wanted to release a Vault Monster?" Rhys questioned, tilting his head to the side. "He may be my hero but even I agree that was too extreme."  
"Well then you're not worthy to call him your hero, it was a perfect plan! It would of helped people!" John argued.  
"It would of killed everyone!" Rhys shot back. "What is wrong with you! No wonder they all hated you back there!"   
"What's wrong with me? Whats wrong with you!" John scowled. "You are not fit to work in Hyperion, I think you deserved to get fired. I should of fucking let the Skags eat you is what I should have done."   
"Yeah well I don't need some opinion from a unruly bigoted jerkwad who can't even show me his face!" Rhys snapped back, he was getting angry now.  
"Oh, so this is how you thank me huh?" John asked. "This is how you thank the man who saved your fucking life?"  
"Well the least you can do is stop holding it against me!" Rhys debated. "At this point I don't even want your help anymore, you're just taking your anger out on me!"  
"Yeah... yeah I am." John smirked. "Y'know why don't you just... c'mere... let me apologize. I can fix this."

Rhys hesitated for a moment and looked John over.   
"C'mon!" John said, then when Rhys didn't move he screamed at him. "GET OVER HERE!"  
Rhys flinched and looked at John. "I... No. I don't want to."  
"What?" John stepped closer to Rhys causing Rhys to back up. "I could of sworn you just told me no. How dare you say no to me."  
"I'm saying no!" Rhys exclaimed. "I'm not afraid of you, the people were right... You are nothing but a giant bully!"  
"Alright, nice guy's gone." John cracked his knuckles and started at Rhys. "You want a bully? Then fine... I'll give you a bully!"   
John suddenly lunged at Rhys with a punch, Rhys stepped aside and dodged it, backing up and trying to avoid the following attacks, making sure he didn't trip over anything in the cave. "Stand still!" John demanded. "I just want to rip your goddamn throat out!"   
"w-what!" Rhys exclaimed and ended up stumbling backwards and tripping over a large crystal that stuck out of the ground of the cave. "No! Wait!" He ended up on the ground with John looming over him with a devilish grin.   
"You're fucked now, cupcake." He chuckled looking down at Rhys, his eyes barely visible under the hood and only glowing slightly with the reflection of the cave crystals. "I'm going to painfully and slowly squeeze the life out of you."   
Before he could make a grab for Rhys's neck, another moonshot happened and the cave started to shake, a small cave in occurring and causing Rocks to fall. Trying not to get hit John was distracted long enough for Rhys to stagger to his feet and stand his ground.

Once the rocks settled John turned to Rhys again only to find himself face to face with the barrel of Rhys's gun. He stopped and looked at Rhys. Laughing.  
"Oh c'mon!" He laughed. "You're really going to try and use that as a threat? You can't shoot me." The man teased. "I saw you miss a full round on that skag, you can't aim worth shit."  
"Kinda hard to miss point blank though." Rhys said, gaining a tone and staring John down as he cocked his gun. "Back off."  
"I mean..." John chuckled slightly again backing up a bit and putting a hand against his side. "I could back off, walk out of here, leave you to die from the moonshots, which will kill you by the way. I could do that... but since you pulled a gun on me and seem so confident." John stood turned away from Rhys slightly, he laughed again. "I think I'm just gonna show you how it's do-"   
Before John could take his gun out and shoot Rhys instead, he was cut off as he was suddenly body checked and rammed into the ground by an angry Cyborg who knew fully well that his gun skills would of gotten him killed just then.  
John cussed hitting the ground and struggling against Rhys. "You fucking.... you SLY SNAKE YOU TRICKED ME!" He growled and started to over throw Rhys, flipping the tables and pinning him down. "Oh I'm so going to fucking murder you-"  
John hissed again as Rhys used his robotic arm to punch him in the face. "Just shut up!" Rhys demanded and then made a grab for his hood. "I'm getting what I want and I want to know who you really are, you.... you..."

Rhys kicked John off and yanked on the hood, taking it off and then quickly getting to his feet and taking the gun in his hands now and aiming it once again. "Now, show me your face!"   
John chuckled, holding where Rhys had punched him, hiding his dace. "Ohhh man... that little piece of scrap sure packs a punch huh? Goddamit that hurts..." He slowly stood up and looked at Rhys. "You just can't leave things alone when you're told their not important, can you kiddo?"   
Rhys stayed stern and watched as John lowered his hand, displaying his face. "Well, I'm sure this is quite a shock to you, huh." He laughed again. "Oh man you really must regret everything now, huh?"   
Rhys gasped as he looked at John's face. It was familiar, very familiar... But yet it was different. It was a well structured face, evil, but yet good looking... It was ruined though from a large arch shaped blue scar that went across his face and destroyed his left eye. His hair was combed back and to the side in a messy fashion. This face, was no doubt familiar. Rhys knew that he had severely fucked up.  
Rhys let his guard down as he stuttered looking for his words. John chuckled as he watched Rhys starting to shake and cower in front of him now. "I... I... You... how..."  
"Yep, that's right Rhyise... Let it all sink in... everything I told you, everything I asked of you... It all ads up doesn't it?" John got right in Rhys's face with a wide smirk. "I'm not John." He looked Rhys directly in the eye. "Who am I, Rhys?"  
Rhys couldn't bring himself to admit it, couldn't let the name leave his lips so easily now as it once did. He was partly in shock, another in excitement, and the rest of him was in fear because he had just punched this man in the face.   
John got annoyed and knocked the gun from Rhys's hands, pushing him agains the wall. "What? You're too scared now? The least you can do is humour me." He slammed his fist against the cave wall, knocking a few more small pebbles loose. "SAY IT!"  
Rhys looked the man back in the eyes, struggling to say it. "I thought you were dead." he asked instead.  
"You thought wrong." John replied, pulling away from the wall. "And you might as well sing your song now because when I count to three, I'm going to blow your fucking head off." John reached for his pistol turning away from Rhys.  
"I..." Rhys was honestly at a lost for words, he didn't know what to do.

"...You're not John." Rhys finally said taking a deep breath and catching "John's" attention. "You didn't lie when you said you worked for Hyperion."  
"...go on." The man said, looking over his shoulder and listening.  
"It all makes sense now... i said the voice sounded familiar.... you knew too much about certain areas... the reason why you weren't negative at all about the horrible things Hyperion has done..."  
The man turned and stared Rhys down, looking offended by that statement. "It wasn't horrible things! It was things for a better cause!"  
"Releasing a Vault Monster to wipe out Pandora Isn;t a good thing! That Kills people and where did that get you? WHERE DID DOING THAT GET YOU JACK!?"  
The man smirked, looking at Rhys. "Well it's about time you said it."  
"Yeah." Rhys huffed. "And I... I... oh geez." Jack watched as Rhys lost his attitude and tone and started going back to being afraid again. "I just punched Handsome Jack in the face."  
"Yeah... you did." Jack took out his revolver. "Now, where were we, pumpkin? Oh that's right. " He cocked the gun. "Murder time!"

"w-wait!" Rhys put his hands up. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"   
Jack looked at Rhys with a lopsided look. "Don't beg, it makes you look even more pathetic then you already were."  
"I mean it! I'm sorry!" Rhys pleaded. "I didn't know it was you.. I thought you were dead... Everyone thought you were dead."   
"Everyone was wrong, we went over this."  
"But how?" Rhys asked. "How did you do it?"  
"You ever hear of the New-U Machines Hyperion made?" Jack questioned.  
"You mean those machines that... scan your DNA and... revive a copy of you when you die....?" Rhys noted the machine.  
"You got it!" Jack smirked. "I had it as a back up incase I died... and well... I died."  
"Yeah... You did die." Rhys said standing up straight now. "Look I meant what I said when I said you were- are, my hero."  
"Word to the wise." Jack spoke aiming his revolver at Rhys's head, flipping a little lazier pointer on it making sure it lined up with Rhys's nose for reasons. "Sucking up never got anyone anywhere."  
"...What about apologizes?" Rhys said more panicked now. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you, I'm sorry I couldn't mind my own, I'm sorry about what I said and I'm sorry I punched you in the face!"  
Jack laughed. "Thats what they all say, they all say their sorry... but you wanna know a little secret Rhyise?" Jack lowered his voice to a whisper. "They're not!"  
Rhys sighed and realized he was probably facing the end of his life now. He just looked at Jack. "Wow." he said.  
Jack lowered his gun looking at Rhys questionably. "Wow?" He repeated. "Wow what?"  
"Just wow." Rhys said. "I didn't expect this was... how you were."   
"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Jack snapped at Rhys.  
"I mean I thought more of you." Rhys replied. "I didn't think you really were some bully who murders people as soon as things went south. Someone whoo... took coward's ways out."   
"See this is why I kill people." Jack said annoyed. "When they start spouting bullshit from their mouths that I don't care for-"  
"just like coward's do." Rhys noted.  
"I am not a coward." Jack stiffened up.   
"What are you then?" Rhys questioned. "You're sure as hell not a hero."  
"Says who?"  
"...You died, Jack." Rhys stepped up. "You're not up there anymore. You're down here, hiding. You're hiding Jack."

Jack frowned, looking at Rhys. "I'm not hiding... I'm recovering."  
"From What?" Rhys asked. "Recovering from loosing?" They killed you Jack, the 'Bandits'."  
"You're really starting to cross the line." Jack said bluntly. "Why don't I just kill you right now."  
"I man you could." Rhys said with a smirk. "But that would mean you take the cowards way out and don't face the facts." He shifted realizing Jack was still listening to him." Whyare you down here, Jack?"  
Jack looked at Rhys then casted his gaze at the ground. "I... I said I was here to disappear... I couldn't... show my face back up there after going through all that and coming back empty handed."  
"A hero would of went back and learned from his mistakes and tried again." Rhys replied.  
"Yeah well you're one to talk!" Jack looked back up at Rhys. "You're hiding too. You are getting fired, literally... they are firing moon shots at you and you can't go back either, Rhys."  
"You're right. I can't go back empty handed." Rhys placed his hands on his hips and smirked. "But I'm sure they'd stop firing at me when I tell them about... my new discovery."   
"And what's that?" Jack questioned.  
"You." Rhys replied.

Jack stepped back. "No." He said. "No, it's not me... I'm not going back there Rhys."  
Rhys frowned, he thought that he was about to get rewarded for putting their CEO back on his throne. "What do you mean, no?" Rhys asked him. "You still hold the title of CEO, y'know that right? You could jut walk in right now and start giving orders... maybe fire Vasquez for me."  
"Oh so now this is just for your own personal gain?" Jack frowned at Rhys. "You really don't care about putting me back up there, you just want to get back up there yourself."  
"No, that's not true!" Rhys protested. "I'm being honest here, I want you back, Jack."   
"Why?" Jack questioned. "didn't you just finish telling me how the choices I made were wrong and how horrible things were?"   
"Your choices were questionable." Rhys replied. "I agree, Pandora needs a major overhaul and you had good intentions. You just... Can't go releasing a giant monster and wiping everyone out."  
"It wouldn't have been everyone!" Jack shot back. "just the people I didn't like and the bandits and scum that soiled this planet."   
"Well again, you don't do that by releasing a Vault Monster." Rhys folded his arms. "But since your assumed death... things haven't been the same on Hyperion."   
"What do you mean? How bad could it be?"  
"People solve things with finger gun fights." Rhys replied. "We're just making guns now, that's it. No new science experiments on the go... nothing new at all really. The only major thing that happened was Vasquez throwing the former vice president out the airlock."   
"...How the fuck did it get that bad?" Jack questioned.  
"That's what I want to know." Rhys replied. He looked at Jack. "We need you."


	5. Chapter 5

Jack looked at Rhys, processing what he said. Hyperion needed him. It certainly did sound like things have declined in his absence. He was always curious about what happened to it, and what would of happened if he went back. Maybe it could be a chance to try everything all over again? Possibly...  
"No... no no no... No!" Jack started to walk away from Rhys. "I am NOT going back there!"  
Rhys looked at Jack in confusion. "What? What do you mean!? Why don't you want to go back?"  
"I just don't!" Jack replied, scowling.   
"Why?" Rhys asked again. "Why the hell wouldn't Handsome Jack want his throne back?"  
"I have my reasons, leave it that." Jack said, as if begging Rhys to drop the topic. "I'm not going back there. Ever. Hyperion is over for me."  
Rhys folded his arms and frowned. "I don't know why you'd say that... You made the place great."  
"And I had a good run." Jack replied. "A run that is over. Simple as that. Hyperion is in the hands of whoever is in the chair now."  
"The person that is in the chair is Vasquez, the same idiot shooting Moonshots at the surface killing a bunch of people and living things just to try and kill me!" Rhys argued. "I honestly think he'd run the company into the ground considering he was willing to spend a million on a vault key!"  
"I mean I'd do the same..." Jack said.  
"Yeah but that was different you knew you had a real one." Rhys sighed. "Please... just please come back? You wont regret it."

Jack laughed. "That's where you're wrong, kiddo." He paced around the cave. "Y'see everyone thinks I'm dead. Even if I agreed to go with you, how are we getting up there without everyone on Pandora wanting to kill me?"  
"You keep going around as John" Rhys suggested. "Not very creative but-"  
"Not happening." Jack said. "Even the people on Hyperion probably wont believe you when you tell them that you found me. They'd laugh in your face actually."   
"But-"  
"Just face it, cupcake." Jack cut Rhys off. "I'm dead, and you're the only one who will ever be able to think otherwise."  
"This doesn't make any sense..." Rhys spoke. "If I were you I would want to get back up there and... do stuff!"  
"Do stuff? Like what kind of stuff?" Jack questioned Rhys to see where he was going with this.  
"Stuff... Like looking for more Vaults maybe?" Rhys shurgged.  
Jack ended up laughing again. "Yeah, I'm sure as soon as I started hiring bandits again to kill them people would catch on like a Deja Vu and just instantly shut me down." He frowned. "Vaults aren't exactly worth my time anymore either, most of them have been found, and my only real shot was the Warrior. I mean I'm sure I would of had more ideas if that goddamn woman didn't..."   
"What woman?" Rhys asked, wondering what kind of grudge Jack could have against this woman.  
"...No one. You wouldn't know her." Jack replied, fixing his stance to stand straighter and address Rhys. "Anyway, I-"

He was cut off as the cave shook, it took a direct hit. The pair braced themselves as the shaking settled and they were now caved in by a rock slide.   
"Oh god dammit!" Jack scowled looking at the rocks and then glaring at Rhys. "Their still fucking shooting at you?"  
Rhys coughed due to the kicked up dust. "Apparently."  
Rhys's communicator booted up again, Vasquez's voice echoing through the cave. "I've lost my patience, Rhys!" He exclaimed, the cave shaking with each shot that hit it. "If you don't come out and fight me like a man, I'll crush that rock you're hiding into into rubble!"  
"Oh, so that's the ass-wipe that's sitting in the big chair?" Jack questioned, looking towards Rhys's call.   
"Y-yeah." Rhys replied.  
"Who are you talking to!?" Vasquez demanded to know. "Is that Vaughn because he's next on the hit list, two birds with one stone!"  
Jack laughed. "Oh I know him! I remember him now! Old wallet head!"   
"Wallet head?" Rhys repeated.  
"What did you just call me?" Vasquez growled.  
"Rhys will talk to you later. Got bigger issues to deal with." Jack grabbed Rhys's arm and ended the call once again.

"Would you stop that!" Rhys said pulling away from Jack. "Cutting him off like that will just make him more angry!"  
"If he was anything of a man he'd stop throwing Moonshots and come down and kill you in person." Jack replied, starting to head deeper into the cave now.  
"Where are we going now?" Rhys questioned, following Jack and praying the ceiling didn't cave in on them.  
"Skag tunnels always have two entrances." Jack noted, placing his hand against a wall, using it as a guide as he navigated the tunnel ways.  
"What do we do when we find the exit?" Rhys questioned. "Vasquez has a tracker on me because I'm wearing Hyperion tech. He'll just find us again and start shooting at us."  
"Well why didn't you say so." Jack replied, turning to face Rhys. "C'mere."  
Rhys hesitated.  
"Okay, listen I know the last time I asked you to come here I tried to kill you but I'm being serious, come here I'll fix that." Jack said, giving Rhys a small smile.  
Rhys took another moment before stepping up to Jack. "I don't really know if you'd understand how to-"  
Jack reached in his pocket for a small kit he carried around with him with miniature tools. Mostly for fixing up his guns but it'd work for other things. He took Rhys's arm. "Hold still." He said popping the panel on it with ease and going and digging into the wiring.  
"Wait, do you even know what to look for?" Rhys questioned. "I think you have to go into the board and-"  
Rhys yelped as Jack gave a yank and something snapped, he pulled out a small blinking computer chip, cut its cord, and patched Rhys back up. "Got it." Jack said, tossing it on the ground and crushing it. "They won't know where you are now."  
"...How?" Rhys looked at Jack, holding his arm with a ghost feeling of pain as if being pricked with a needle.   
"Listen, I didn't start out as CEO, I did have to have some qualities to be hired by Hyperion in the first place." Jack replied with a smirk, putting his tool kit back in his pocket. "I was an engineer. I know my shit. The Loaderbots were mostly my design, long story short I'm more then just a pretty face, cupcake."

Rhys titled his head to the side looking Jack over. "I never knew that about you." He stated.  
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." Jack said and started to walk again. "You got a flashlight on that arm, use it."  
"Wait, I do?" Rhys looked at his hand.  
"Small button under your wrist joint." Jack said.  
Rhys pressed it and the circle of his palm that usually displayed holograms and computer screens lit up, projecting nothing but light. "OH."  
"Yeah." Jack laughed. "You mean to tell me you're going around with that stuff and don't even know how to use it half the time?"  
"To be fair when I got it they didn't tell me it had minor features like this." Rhys stated. "I just got it mainly for getting one up on the rest of the employees when it came to computer work, that and I'm good at hacking."  
"Well if you can hack that well why didn't you hack into the system and promote yourself to president?" Jack questioned, flipping the flashlight on his gun to have his own light source independent of Rhys.   
"...I... never thought of that actually." Rhys admitted. "How would I go about that?"  
"On the pay roll just write yourself in as President, and then when Vasquez sits in the chair in the office just remotely open the air locks." Jack explained. "Boom, instant promotion."  
"That's very... malicious." Rhys noted.  
"So?" Jack laughed again. "I didn't get to CEO by just being a good Engineer, Rhysie."

"I guess so..." Rhys looked around the cave, there was an assortment of strange plants, mushrooms, and bones. Victims of the Skags that lived in here. "Hey how many Skags are usually in these things?"  
"A few hundred." Jack shrugged. "We will have to fight our way out of the other end, but for now we're safe because of the time of day. With the Moonshots I doubt the rest of them would come back to the nest. Only a few guarding the entrance."   
"Speaking of Moonshots, they seemed to have died down." Rhys noted.  
"Yeah because he doesn't know where you are now." Jack replied. "I told you I'd fix that. Also we're a little ways under ground now, so we wouldn't feel the effects from the surface as much."  
"Oh." Rhys replied. He continued walking and suddenly flinched as his foot landed in something unpleasant. Goopy and slimy, it made an audible squishing sound as he quickly pulled his foot out. "Oh, gross!" Rhys wined shining his light to see what he stepped in only to find a black mess of smelly goo.  
"Yeah I was going to tell you to watch your step." Jack replied with a smirk. "But just like watching you face plant that was really funny. The only thing that could of made that better was if you tripped and face planted into that."   
"Y'know something Jack?" Rhys said looking up at the man and wiping his shoe in some dry rock flooring.   
"What?" Jack questioned looking Rhys over as if knowing what Rhys was going to say to him.  
"You're an asshole."  
Jack chuckled and turned away from Rhys heading further through the cave. "Thanks, I try my best."


	6. Chapter 6

    "Nice shot, kiddo!" Jack clapped his hands as he watched Rhys put down his first Skag. "Only took you a full round, but, it's a start."  
    "Thanks... I guess?" Rhys flinched as Jack shot something past him, doing away with another one hit kill.  
    "That should be the last of them." Jack replied, looking around at the small group of Skags they killed. Mostly what he killed though.  
    Rhys tried to keep from puking but he was glad they were finally at the other end of the cave, the stench was starting to get to him, and all the blood and guts of the monsters laying around was also doing him in. "The exit should be just up ahead, yeah?"  
    "Yeah." Jack confirmed, reloading his pistol then putting it away.   
    The pair walked through the rest of the cave and saw light at the end of it. They exited into the harsh climate of Pandora again. "How long were we in there?" Rhys asked, looking back at the tunnel entrance. "This is a completely different location."  
    "A few hours at least." Jack said looking up at the sky and the setting sun. "It's already getting late."

    Rhys looked up in the opposite direction, eying Helios that loomed over the planet. "The Moonshots have stopped for now." Rhys stated looking to Jack. "Do you think he'd come down here personally?"  
    "God I hope he does." Jack replied, smiling at Rhys. "I'd personally put a bullet in him for you, he seems annoying. I mean, I totally agree with you, he should not be in that chair."  
    "Yeah." Rhys replied. "Speaking of who should be in that chair, have you given any thought to my offer?"  
    "Nope." Jack replied too quickly for Rhys's liking. "Not one bit. I already have my mind made up, kid."  
    "Are you serious?" Rhys questioned. "You just said Vasquez shouldn't be in that chair, so if you go back you can change that!"  
    "And what? Put you in it maybe?" Jack watched as Rhys's expression changed.  
    "I-I mean if you think that I would-"  
    "I was joking kid. I wouldn't put you in that chair either." Jack replied with a lighthearted tone that still managed to come across as bitter. "Personally I don't care anymore who is in the chair, it matters not to me. I'm done with Hyperion, remember?"  
    "So what are you doing then?" Rhys questioned. "You just got kicked out of that town, and you said yourself that as soon as people recognize you and realize you're not dead, the people of Pandora will hunt you down."  
    "Listen, don't worry too much about it." Jack replied. "I'm more then able to handle myself, unlike you who only now learned how to aim."

    Rhys sighed. "Alright, fine." He looked over the landscape, it was different. Walking for just a few hours had brought them to a completely new location, they weren't in the dry and harsh desert anymore. Though this area was still barren, there was still some greenery, more then the desert. "Where are we?"  
Jack looked around the area, seemingly noticing something in the distance. "Three Horns Valley..."  
"...Yeah, doesn't help me." Rhys frowned, he didn't know much of the towns and locations on Pandora, didn't really pay too much attention to it from up on Helios.  
"I remember this place... I don't want to remember it but y'know how it is." Jack said as he started to walk. "It's getting late and Pandora is twice as scary at night when the nocturnal creatures get on the move, we need a place to stay."  
"Well what do you have in mind?" Rhys questioned. "Are you going to live in another cave?"  
"Very funny." Jack didn't laugh but picked up on the joke Rhys was trying to make. "No, there's an old abandoned motel around here somewhere."  
They rounded the corner of a large mountain side and the building in question came into view in the distance. "There it is." Jack pointed up ahead.  
Rhys looked where jack pointed and saw a large sign with a giant and rusted pink pig on it, on it read the Happy Pig Motel. "Why did they call it the Happy Pig?"  
"The owner probably looked like a literal pig." Jack suggested. "I don't really care why they named it that, all I know is that it's a stupid name." They kept walking, passing an old tower and small dumpster and campsite, of which Jack told Rhys to tread carefully by and to be quiet. "No wonder it got abandoned, who would be going on road trips and staying at Motels other than the bandits that don't pay for anything." Jack finished.

They reached the parking area of the Motel. The place was seriously run down, it clearly hadn't been active in more then a few years. Probably twenty years or more actually. Rhys booted up his Echo eye and scanned the area. Nothing was in good condition, there was a billboard and some broken vending machines. An old abandoned bus with some luggage on it he didn't want to be curious enough to snoop into, and a loud and large pump of some point next to a building that had somehow kept pumping after all these years.

"Ah, good!" Jack smiled nothing the pump. "There's still power!" He headed over to the board and had a look at it, activating the holographic screen and searching through listings.   
"What are you looking for?" Rhys asked, looking at the board now too.  
"Just checking the news and stuff and seeing what's on the go. People post gossip and information on these things all the time. " Jack said as he continued searching. "Not much here on this one though, it seems as if it hasn't been touched since..." He trailed off again, shutting down the board.  
"So I'm guessing that building there is the hotel part of the motel?" Rhys gestured towards the building that he saw next to the pump.  
"Eeyup." Jack replied, walking towards it. "Let's check it out, shall we."  
Rhys followed behind Jack and stayed behind as Jack took the lead and slowly approached the door. He was quiet for a moment, putting an ear to the door. He had to be careful on a planet like Pandora, you never knew what you could find or what you could run into by just rushing into doors without thinking. After not hearing any other movement or sounds he opened the door slowly, then all the way when nothing jumped out at them.  
"Looks good." Jack said, walking in all the way, Rhys followed up behind him.  
"It's kinda dark in here." Rhys said, looking around for a switch for the lights or something since Jack said they had power.  
"Just use your flashlight, don't want other people to be drawn to us by seeing lights on." Jack hit a button on his gun and activated a flash light, using it to look around. "Ugh. This place has seen better days." There was a lot of dirt and trash around the small reception area. "I think that's a blood stain."

Rhys turned on the light he had built into his cybernetic arm again, looking around himself. He rolled his eyes as Jack's first reaction was to check the desk and break into the register and safe seeing if there was any money in them, he was surprised that Jack did find a dollar or two though.  
"Augh! What is that!" Rhys exclaimed, jumping away from what he had just shone his light on.  
Jack rushed over, looking at the pile on the floor. "Ohhhh nice, you found a satanic ritual site." He laughed and looked the pile over so more.  
"I-is that a skull and spine surrounded by flesh and..." Rhys had to turn away and stop looking at it. "God I think I'm going to be sick."  
"Go do it out around back." Jack casually said and looked around the rest of the area, finding a door that lead to the rooms. "I wonder if there's still anyone strapped to a bed or anything in here since there's that." He said in reference to the pile of blood and guts.  
"What is wrong with some people?" Rhys asked Jack, trying to keep his head up now and not look at anything else that was nasty.  
"That's normal, honestly." Jack replied. "I told you kiddo, Pandora is horrible. The bandits and Psychos here are the absolute worse." He laughed. "Can't handle a little bit of rotten corpses?"  
"Not really, no." Rhys replied. "Even those skags were hard to take down."  
Jack chuckled more. "Hah. Welcome to Pandora kid." Jack pushed open the door to the bedrooms and a flood of creatures that could only be described as skags with wings came flying out, screeching and squawking and instantly going on the attack. Rhys screamed and protected his eyes as he ran out of the building and into the nearby field and screaming for help.

Jack walked out and watched as Rhys was running in circles trying to get the creatures off of him. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find Rhys's reaction extremely hilarious. "Looks like we got a small Rakk infestation." Jack smirked and eventually headed over to help Rhys when he tripped and curled up in a small ball with the Rakks circling him like vultures.   
Rhys whimpered as he heard the gun shots and the bodies falling to the ground around him. He honestly thought he was going to die again that time, the same way he felt when he was facing off with the skags before he met Jack. And once again, like the skags, Jack had to save his ass.   
"You can get up now." Jack called out to Rhys and didn't even bother to go check on him, instead he just headed back to the Motel.  
Rhys slowly opened his eyes and looked ahead, coming face to face with a dead Rakk and quickly sitting up, looking around him at the rest of the dead bodies. He shivered and stood up, dusting himself off  and cautiously heading back to the hotel as well. 

"You really need to learn how to defend yourself." Jack commented, hearing Rhys walk back into the Motel.  
"Is this where we're staying for the night?" Rhys questioned, ignoring Jack's comments and looking around the hotel room.  
"Yep!" Jack replied all too cheerily as he headed down the small hallway and sized up the doors. He avoided the blood stained an damaged ones, and opened the one at the end that was in relatively good shape.  
A few rat like creatures screeched and scurried out the door. "This room looks fine." Jack said pushing the door open fully and shining a light.  
"...Seriously?" Rhys frowned. "This whole place is filthy, a lethal infection waiting to happen."  
"Aw, what's wrong? Miss the clean status of Hyperion?" Jack questioned, walking further room and shining the light at the wall, locating a light switch and turning it on. "Ah good, lights work."  
The room looked horrible with the lights on, Rhys preferred to no see the state of it in the darkness. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, there was a horrible stench and stains all over the floor, blood most likely. There was old Pizza boxes, other snack foods, some old containers and ammunition shells, and the place was just a huge mess.  
Jack walked ahead of Rhys and continued exploring the room, he checked the other door that lead to the small bathroom. "Whoa." He sneered closing the door again and pulling over a chair and putting it in front of the Handel to lock the door. "Wouldn't go in there if I were you."  
Rhys didn't even want to guess what was in there.

"Listen Kiddo, if you want to live on Pandora, you're gonna have to get used to getting your hands dirty." Jack said, picking up the bed sheet of the bed and giving it a firm shake to clean it off as good as he could and put it back down on the bed.  
"I guess you have a point." Rhys said, watching as Jack helped himself to the bed, relaxing easily and looking at the ceiling of the room. "So like, are we doing shifts or-"  
"Nah, you don't have to." Jack said, rolling over to his side and looking at Rhys. "This place hasn't been touched in awhile, if I were you I'd get some sleep, you're going to need it."  
"...Right." Rhys replied looking around the room, eyeing which corner was the less messy for him to curl up in.  
"Oh don't be such a fucking baby." Jack scowled and patted the spot next to him.   
"Uh..." Rhys stood and looked at Jack and the empty space on the bed.  
"We're grown men and you're acting like a school girl afraid of some cooties, you'll also have to get used to sleeping in close quarters with other people on this planet." Jack replied, then shrugged when Rhys continued to stare. "Then again if you want to be uncomfortable, go ahead. I mean this bed is like a sac of bricks but it's better than a damp corner." He shrugged and rolled over, facing away from Rhys now.  
Rhys considered what Jack said and sighed, helping himself to the other side of the bed, staying as close to the edge as he could and away from Jack. "This is so weird..." He complained.

Surprisingly there wasn't any witty remark from Jack, which caused Rhys to turn his head and look over at the other man. The only response he got was a loud snore, Jack was asleep already. Rhys huffed and turned over to his side, staring at the stained wall of the motel, the dim light flickering overhead. Unlike Jack, Rhys had the feeling he wasn't going to sleep well tonight.


	7. Chapter 7

    Rhys groaned slightly, he had gained a nasty headache due to the stress of the previous day. He was awake, though it was impressive he managed to at least get a nap's worth of rest in given his current situation. Staring up at the old stained and gross ceiling of the motel room, the first thing that came to mind was how his friend was doing. Vaughn got separated from him, and those two con-artists weren't helpful either. Hopefully Vaughn got lucky and had someone to help him survived the harsh conditions of Pandora.  
    Now Rhys was thinking about himself, and what he was going to do. He fucked up. He tried to play it dirty and fight the system to get revenge on Vasquez and everything just backfired from him. Now he couldn't go back to Hyperion at all, but he doubt he'd be able to live and get a decent life and a job on Pandora. Even if he could get back to Hyperion, Vasquez would just kill him. The only thing that could keep him from being killed and get Vasquez to back off and get a taste of his own Medicine was if Rhys could take advantage of his recent companion...

    Having ran into Jack, bringing this infamous man back and putting him in charge again would surely score a huge amount of brownie points with the higher ups, and make him respected on Helios. The only issue with this perfect plan was that for some unknown reason, Jack didn't want to go back to Hyperion. Rhys didn't really understand that part. Jack made Hyperion what it was today, he did improve it, his other morals aside. If he could just get Jack back and keep him from chasing another Vault Monster or something again, then maybe, Hyperion could be even better.  
    But Jack didn't want to go back, and every time Rhys asked he was met with a hard no. Something happened that changed Jack's outlook on running something like Hyperion, which is odd given how pushy he was still being with Rhys. Jack still liked to have control, this was evident in the town of Nowhere, the effect he had on the people there. Then again these people also eventually gained the balls to stand up to him, and just kicked him out, Rhys's involvement aside it would of happened sooner or later.  
    If Rhys could recall correctly from word of tongue and rumours... That's kinda what happened to Jack during his "downfall". People just got tired of his shit, and a resistance built up against him and Hyperion on Pandora, and eventually a bunch of Vault Hunters got to him and did away with him.  
Or so everyone thought.  
    Clearly Jack had survived whatever it was that happened to him during that downfall. It lead to questions of what actually happened. Rhys was sure it would be eventually covered in a documentary, if he could ever get Jack back to Hyperion. Maybe plastered over information stations in front of new statues in a "New Opportunity". The thought crossed his mind of how those words would go, and if he would even be included as the one who managed to bring Jack back. Rhys liked the thought of having a statue or two of himself and people knowing his name...  
If he could ever get Jack back, of course.

    Rhys turned over on the brick bed, suddenly getting startled and almost letting out a scream but stopped himself, not wanting to wake the other person up. He came face to face with Jack, who was still asleep and must of shifted in his sleep. Rhys took note of what time it was and realized it was still a bit early, or late. Time on Pandora was longer than a normal day, that aside Rhys could only sleep for about 8 or 9 hours, but he figured someone like Jack, if other words of how lazy the man could be were true, could easily put in 12 or more hours of sleep.  
    Rhys tried his hardest not to shift too much himself and not to wake Jack up. Given the fact the man recently tried to kill him and had a short temper, the last thing he needed was to deal with a grumpy Jack due to interrupted sleep. Rhys let out a sigh and looked back at Jack, starting to study his face now. The fact he was this close to a man he used to look up to so much was a bit weird. It was also really cool, and his fanboy side started to sneak back in again. Rhys couldn't lie, Jack was someone he wanted to be, again, horrible things aside.  
    While studying Jack's face many questions came to Rhys mind, such as what happened to his face for one. That large arch like blue scar. Was it new? The way it was healed up, it was impossible for it to be fresh. Rhys questioned the fact he'd never seen Jack like that before, then he recalled the fact Jack's face was never really... natural looking. He wore some sort of mask, and then maybe this was why he wore it. That scar didn't suit the face of a man that went by the title of "Handsome".   
    More questions came. How did he get the scar? What happened to his mask? Did he purposely dispose of it, or was there another reason? Why did he... honestly look better without it. Rhys had to admit, if he had known beforehand that this was Jack's true face, he would of been even more interested in Jack's story. That's the kind of scar that only has a thrilling king of backstory to it.

    Other things started to flow into Rhys's thought process now. Why did Jack offer to help him? Given Jack's nature he expected to have just been left for dead after the incident with the Skags. He should have been killed during the incident with Jack back in the cave. Jack wanted to kill him, because Rhys pissed him. It was easy to piss Jack off. But yet, he quickly dropped the idea of wanting to kill Rhys as soon as it came, and then he went back to helping Rhys again. Rhys was half expecting the man to leave him sometime throughout the night, if Jack didn't want to go back to Hyperion, and all he wanted to do was be forgotten, why was he still hanging around?  
    No, something was up. There was a method to his madness. This was Handsome Jack he was thinking about. Jack always had some sort of plan. He wouldn't just help someone like Rhys out of the goodness of his heart, there was something in it for him. Maybe he did actually want to go back to Hyperion but he didn't want to have to owe a reward of some sort to Rhys. Hell, just being able to keep his job and knowing that he was the one to bring Jack back was enough to Rhys, maybe he'd mention that when Jack was awake.  
Jack was already awake.

    "GAh!" Rhys moved away suddenly, realizing the eyes staring back at him now. He had been so lost in thought he forgot he was facing Jack.  
    "That a common hobby of yours? Being a creep and watching people sleep?" Jack questioned with a smirk, sitting up.  
    "I-I was just... I thought you were-" Rhys tried to explain himself, instantly standing up and facing Jack.  
    "Oh no I get it, you thought I was asleep and you could finally enjoy the few." Jack had a playful tone to his voice instead of an annoyed one like Rhys expected. "Hey, it's cool. You're not the only one to get lost in these eyes y'know."  
    "I was more so lost in thought than I was-" Rhys caught himself. "Wait a minute I wasn't-"  
    Jack smirked and chuckled again. "I'm only joking, Rhyise." Jack stretched and looked back over to Rhys. "What were you thinking about anyway?"  
"Y'know just... stuff..." Rhys replied, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.  
"What kinda stuff?"  
"Well, for starters, why are you even helping me at this point?" Rhys questioned.  
"Because you needed help." Jack replied.  
"Yes , but you also tried to kill me back in that cave, do you not remember." Rhys pointed out. "What's your excuse there?"  
"You were being rude to me and pissed me off." Jack shrugged. "So If you want my help, best make sure that doesn't happen again."  
"Right, because I totally want your help." Rhys replied sarcastically.  
"See, there's that rude thing again." Jack scowled. "Well if you don't want my help, I guess I'll just leave then-" Jack started to get up and leave.  
"No wait!" Rhys stopped him. "I'm sorry! I do want your help!"  
"That's what I thought." Jack smirked and looked back at Rhys. "Of course you want my help."

"I want more than just your help though." Rhys continued. "I want some answers."  
"What, you already don't have enough?" Jack sneered.  
"No, I don't." Rhys shot back. "First of all, why don't you want to go back to Hyperion."  
Jack sighed loudly. "You're still on about this?"  
"Yes, because I want to know!"  
"I told you already why I don't want to go back, I don't care."  
"But why don't you care!" Rhys protested. "You were running things so well and smoothly, your mistake of jumping on a Vault Aside...."  
"You actually think I ran Hyperion because I liked it?" Jack questioned, and then laughed. "Yeah well okay, being the head of a huge corporation like that was fun and I did like it, but I didn't get to where I was just because I wanted to run Hyperion."  
"So you... never really cared for Hyperion?" Rhys asked him.  
"Nope, I got to where I was in Hyperion because I needed to use them." Jack explained. "I wouldn't of got a chance to get to that Vault if it wasn't for abusing my power at Hyperion. And since that plan backfired, what's the point in going back?"  
"So it was just... all part of of your big scheme?" Rhys sounded disappointed.  
"Don't sound so surprised, what did you expect from me, honestly?" Jack replied.  
"Well then, why are you still here? Why are you just aimlessly roaming Pandora?"  
"Got nothing better to do." Jack frowned. "Kinda hard to pull off anything like I did again without a large corporation behind me, and everyone here wants to kill me so I won't be able to build that up again... And besides, I don't want to go back to Hyperion cause I can tell by looking at you, you don't want me back now, if all I'm going to do is blow this planet up."  
Rhys frowned now, looking back at Jack. "That's horrible." Rhys said. "Why do you want to do this to the place anyway?"  
"Did you not see how they treated me back in that town? Did you miss all the dangerous monsters that call this place home? Do you not know of all the bandits and outlaws that just run around this place with no law or order? This place isn't fit to live on Rhys, all it's good for is wiping clean and starting with a fresh slate." Jack replied. "So yeah, I wanted to fix that and make the place better, sue me."

"But... That's what Hyperion has been doing ever since you left." Rhys addressed Jack. "We've been trying to devlop technology and ideas that can be applied to Pandora to make it a safer place to live... and we're doing it without releasing a Vault Monster and killing everyone."  
"...Where's the fun in that?"  
"Jack, I'm being serious!" Rhys scowled at him. "It is possible to do what you want without just... Killing everyone."  
"It's easier to kill everyone, though."  
Rhys sighed. "Okay fine, I'll give up on trying to get you back in Hyperion."  
"Finally, now can we move on?" Jack asked.  
"No." Rhys replied. "I want your help with something."  
"I'm already helping you, so asking for a bit much, aren't you?" Jack looked Rhys over.  
"I want to go back to Hyperion." Rhys stated. "I want to go back and not get killed, and the only way I'm going to do that is with someone like you. You don't have to join Hyperion again if you don't want to, but having you with me keeps me from getting killed..."  
"You're hatching a plan..." Jack picked up on Rhys's explanation. "Continue."  
"When we get up on Helios, I will use you to my advantage. First of all, Vasquez needs to be disposed of, and then, I want more than just my job back... if you don't want Hyperion back... I... I wan't the big chair. I want to take Hyperion... I can... I can do what you couldn't then. Progress us further and then show you that Hyperion can be used for good without doing bad."  
"You're talking awfully big now, aren't you." Jack commented. "You basically said you just wanted to use me."  
"You're the one who offered to help." Rhys stated. "And hey, if you change your mind, the offer is still there, if not, I'll just make sure you're settled away good on Pandora instead of having everyone trying to kill you like they are now."  
Jack thought over Rhys's plan for a few minutes. "Y'know, maybe I was wrong about you." Jack stated. "Maybe you do have what it takes to run a thing like Hyperion."  
"Why do you say that?" Rhys questioned.  
Jack chuckled. "Cause only a natural born snake could come up with a plan like that to get where you wanted."  
"I guess my plan is a bit... selfish."   
"I love it." Jack laughed, shifting and looking back at Rhys. "Alright, I'm in. I got nothing better to do anyway."  
"Wait, are you serious?" Rhys looked surprised. "I didn't think you'd actually..."  
"You doubted I'd say yes to the plan?" Jack frowned. "Aw, you're loosing that corporate leader attitude. Rule one, never make demands unless you know people will do it."  
"Right... I'll keep that in mind." Rhys smiled. "So, how do we go about getting to Helios?"  
Jack smirked. "In a few hours, you're going to be making a very important Echo Call."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I'd like to take a moment to thank you all for your interest and support in this fiction, I'm starting to really enjoy writing it as much as I did when I first started. I'm looking forward to developing the plot and seeing where this goes. I will try to update this more often until it is finished now, putting above my other fictions, but please be aware there may be slight periods of long wait times in between chapters sometimes due to me having to deal with real life issues such as school.
> 
> That said, thank you for sticking with me this far and I hope you enjoy this next chapter and the many more to come. 
> 
> I also apologize for how horribly "Slow burn" This is. lol. I like to try and build chemistry before I commit the shipping. :)

"You want me to do WHAT!?" Rhys exclaimed looking back at Jack trying to tell if he was actually serious about his request or not.  
"I said I want you to call Vasquez and tell him where you are." Jack stated again. "You said you wanted to get back up to Helios, and without a ship the only other way is with an escort from the source. Unless you can find a working Fast Travel, though I'm sure the resistance caused most of the paths to Helios to be wiped out."  
"And what makes you so sure they will send an escort?" Rhys continued to question Jack. "I'm pretty sure if I call Vasquez and tell him my location the only thing he's sending down is a moonshot with my name on it."  
"He won't do that." Jack replied. "Trust me."  
"Listen, I understand you have a plan and all but after what we've been though already with that town and the skags and the motel forgive me if I'm a little-"  
"Oh for God's sake, man just make the call!" Jack grabbed Rhys's right arm and popped the panel on it again, pressing a button and suddenly staring up the Echo call himself.  
"No no wait! I'm not ready! I don't know what to say! I-" Rhys continued to freak out as the call connected, a familiar voice cutting him off and addressing him.

"...Wow, how stupid are you Rhys?" Vasquez's voice laughed over the Echo call. "Calling me like this is just leading me to your location, It's almost like you gave up and wanted me to kill you. Pandora not treating you as well as you thought?"  
"I-I-" Rhys took a breath and calmed himself, with Jack watching him as he took control of the situation. "No, I'm calling to make a deal with you."  
"I'm not interested in anything you have to offer." Vasquez replied. "So let me just cut to the chase and start homing in the Moon Canon..."  
"You can't kill me!" Rhys exclaimed.  
"Sure I can! Why can't I."  
Suddenly Jack stepped in. "Because if you kill him you blow me up too, dumbass."  
Rhys looked over at Jack who just looked back at him, then they both waited as the call seemed to go silent.  
"...You still there, Vasquez?" Rhys asked after a minute.  
"...T-that's a neat trick you got there, Rhys." Vasquez finally talked back, sounding a bit shaken up. "Did you find a v-voice mod or something? Cute. But sadly that wont fool me into-"  
"Fool you? What, so you don't think it's possible for one of the greatest men in existence to not be dead?" Jack chuckled stopping Vasquez once again. "Hey Rhys, c'mere for a minute, lemme see your circuit." Jack took out a screwdriver and started messing with some of Rhys's wires again.  
"...Look Rhys, that's not funny, it's disrespectful actually and I was thinking someone like you wouldn't stoop as low as to-"  
"He's not playing around, wallet head."  
Vasquez screamed and fell back in his chair as there was now a video reception to the call, and Jack was looking right back at him.

"Y-you... how!?" Vasquez questioned, trying to stand up again and process what he was seeing.  
"Hahah, man you're such an idiot." Jack continued to speak, addressing Vasquez. "How? It's simple, I'm un-killable."  
"That's impossible!" Vasquez stated. "They found your body.... We have it on ice down in the storage."  
"I bet you Idiots didn't bother to do a DNA test, huh?" Jack smirked. "Poor Tim, kinda liked him but the body double program came in handy after all."  
"B-body double?" Vasquez was even more confused. "You're telling me you planned out that you might die?"  
"I planned out a lot of things, there's a whole lot of stuff I know that I shouldn't" Jack stated, also getting Rhys's curiosity to spark now too.   
"This can't be real... this is not happening right now..." Vasquez frowned. "It's gotta be some kind of cybernetic programming trick, show me the little-"  
Before Vasquez was done, Jack shifted to stand next to Rhys, and both of them now staring back at Vasquez through the Echo projection. "You done with your excuses?" Jack asked him.  
"I... wow I..."  
"Good." Jack patted Rhys's shoulder. "Now I think Rhysie here was talking about some sort of arrangement he had for you?" With that Jack walked off to the side, and left Rhys with Vasquez.

"...This... this is actually happening, isn't it..." Vasquez groaned as he rubbed the side of his head, and then looked back to Rhys. "How in the name of Pandora does a lackey like you, end up finding our dead CEO?"  
"Maybe I just have this luck about me." Rhys smirked, feeling smug now to see Vasquez in this state and willing to listen. "Now, about our conditions."  
"What do you want Rhys." Vasquez frowned.  
"I want you, to do everything I'm asking for." Rhys stated. "First of all, you're not going to kill me, second of all, you're going to send an escort and bring the both of us back up there. We'll arrange more things once we're able to speak in person."  
"Ugh." Vasquez sighed, thinking for a moment, then smirking. "Wait a minute, everyone still thinks he's dead, so just killing you and him would just make that true, so it's not like you-"  
"I can hear you, y'know." Jack stepped into frame again. "And Listen here, buddy, if you think you can kill me with some moonshots, you're sadly mistaken. If you so much as even think about turning on me, I will find you, and I will rip out your goddamn throat with my own two hands."  
Vasquez now had a look of pure horror on his face. "...I'm sending a pod down now... should be there in a few minutes."  
"That's what I thought." Jack ended the call.

Rhys continued to star at his now empty hand, overthinking everything that just took place. He looked up from his hand and over to jack, who met his eyes, and stared back at Rhys, entertaining whatever this was. Rhys stared for a few more minutes and Jack was about to say something when Rhys finally spoke up.  
"Oh my god I can't believe we just pulled that off!" Rhys exclaimed, smiling back at Jack and feeling a bit giddy. "I just... well we just stood up to Vasquez and bossed him around and got our way! This is awesome! He's sending a pod back down to collect us and then we're gonna take over and kick him out."  
"It wasn't a big deal." Jack sighed with an eye roll.  
"Not a big deal?" Rhys looked at him wide eyed. "You have no idea how big this is, Jack! I found you, I'm going to be famous! I returned Hyperion's greatest CEO back to his rightful place!"  
"I thought we already agreed I have no interest in staying."  
"We did but... just let me have this, alright?" Rhys frowned, looking back at Jack.  
Jack sighed again. "Fine."  
"Woooooh!" Rhys exclaimed, continuing on his high. "I can see it now, the look on Vasquez's face when I'm kicking him out of his office and making him the janitor. Oh it's going to be great! I can't wait to like track down Vaughn, and promote both him and Yevette... I'm going to finally get that promotion I worked so long for! I can't actually believe it, and here I thought I was doomed!"  
"Alright, that's enough." Jack flicked Rhys's forehead and brought him back down. "Stop acting like such a dork, will ya? If you're going to do what you want, you're going to have to act a bit more professional than a kid with an ice cream truck."  
Rhys held the spot where Jack flicked, rubbing it a bit and scowling at him. "...Alright fine, I guess you do have a point... I was just so angry with Vasquez and how my day was going and what happened and everything I lost..."  
"Hey, I know the feeling." Jack replied, and then smiled. "So, that said, how you planning on getting your petty revenge when you get up there?"  
"I'm doing what he did to me and demoting him to Janitor." Rhys stated. "That'll teach him?"  
"What, are you serious?" Jack frowned. "That's so lame, Rhys."  
"Well, what would you do if you were me?" Rhys asked Jack.  
"Toss him out the airlock." Jack stated. "Now that will teach him."  
"What?" Rhys frowned at Jack, the mere thought of murdering Vasquez sending a shiver down his spine. "No, I can't do that, I'm not that kinda person."  
"Apparently wallet head is." Jack stated. "And if you want to get even, you kill him, or make him suffer even more than slowly suffocating and freezing to death."  
"But, why? What's the point? I just wanted to show him not to mess with me." Rhys tried to talk Jack out of this idea. "And just demoting him will do that."  
"Listen, kiddo, he already knows not to mess with you." Jack pointed out. "If you kill him, though... Then you teach other people not to mess with you as well and eliminate the risk of an issue happening because they wanted to mess with you."  
Rhys thought for a moment. "...as horrible as that sound, you do make a lot of sense."  
"Of course I do!" Jack laughed. "That's why I did as well as I did."

Their conversation about how to deal with Vasquez ended as they heard the boom of an object breaking the sound barrier and entering the atmosphere of pandora. Looking towards Helios they could see a small pod on fire as it hurled towards the ground. It narrowly missed them, probably intended as a threat from Vasequez, and broke the ground as it crashed, sliding a little before stopping. It was coloured in the classic Hyperion shades of yellow, and the smoke blew away from it as dust settled.  
Once everything was calmed down, the pod activated and the doors soon opened, a small robot on one wheel coming out to great the pair.  
"Greetings! I am the Hyperion escort sent to retrieve "dead guy" and "soon to be dead" guy." The bot chirpped, looking up at the two men with its singular optic.  
"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me." Jack scowled as he glared at the small pathetic rectangle bot. "You guys still got these goddamn Claptraps?"  
"Honestly, we normally use loader bots..." Rhys stated. "I'm thinking Vasquez sent this as a sort of rude gesture."  
"He definitely did." Jack stated and started to head towards the pod. "He likes to live dangerously doesn't he? Well just wait till I-"  
"Oh my gosh! It's actually you!" The Claptrap unit looked up as Jack as he approached. "I've heard a lot about your greatness, sir! I never thought I'd get the honour to- Hey wow that's a really ugly scar, there was nothing recorded about tha- OW!"  
Jack gave the unit a harsh kick, putting a dent in it. "Just wait till I shove this tin can down his throat." He finished his statement and walked into the pod.  
"Sorry!" Rhys knelt down to check on the small robot, glaring back at Jack as he watched him completely ignore the fact he just kicked the poor bot.  
"It's okay, I'm used to it." The robot said in a condescending tone of voice. "It's not too bad, is it?" It looked up at Rhys in question about how bad the dent looked.  
Rhys sized it up and frowned, and then tried to be optimistic for the bot. "It's ah... it's fine. Just a scratch, barely noticeable."  
"Whew! That's a relief, I was worried my irresistible looks were suddenly made resistible." The bot spun around and then directed Rhys to the pod. "Come along, squire! Hyperion requests your presence on Helios!"  
Rhys sighed and stood up, walking into the pod and taking the seat next to Jack. The robot closed the door behind them. "Well, this is it, heading back to Helios for real now, and unfolding our plan."  
"Yeah, this was a lot easier then I thought." Jack stated, watching as the Claptrap started messing with the pod controls, struggling to get it functional. "Kinda boring."  
"I mean, I guess." Rhys replied. "I'm not really sure how you make planning to over throw a dickhead fun and exciting."  
"Well there's like a thousand things you can do to him-"  
"I meant fun in a sort of adventure sense... not mindless murder." Rhys looked at Jack with disapproval. "What's wrong with you?"  
"What's not wrong with you?" Jack shot back.  
"Ugh, never mind." Rhys replied, turning his head away and leaning on the chair's armrest. He was starting to wonder if maybe it was a good thing that Jack didn't want to take over and run Hyperion again.

The Claptraps constant bashing on the controls and making no progress finally got to Jack, he stood up, pushing the robot aside. "Watch out." He grumbled, annoyed with how utterly useless the damn things were. "God, Hyperion's standards have gone to shit since I died."  
"Wait, what are you doing-" Rhys looked over Jack's shoulder and watched as he pressed a bunch of buttons and input some cods, making an actual steering wheel pop up and started up the pod.  
"Making this more fun." Jack smirked, finally pressing the big red button in the middle.  
Rhys and the Claptrap didn't even get a chance to scream before they were slingshotted into space.


End file.
